Hedgehog (Hh) proteins are secreted morphogens that are involved in many biological processes during embryonic development. Postnatally, Hh has important roles in tissue homeostasis and aberrant Hh signaling is associated with developmental disorders and several types of cancer. At the cell surface, the Hh signal is thought to be relayed by the 12 transmembrane domain protein Patched (Ptc) (Hooper and Scott, Cell 59: 751-65 (1989); Nakano et al., Nature 341: 508-13 (1989)) and the G-protein-coupled-like receptor Smoothened (Smo) (Alcedo et al., Cell 86: 221-232 (1996); van den Heuvel and Tngham, Nature 382: 547-551 (1996)). Both genetic and biochemical evidence support a receptor model where Ptch and Smo are part of a multi-component receptor complex (Chen and Struhl, Cell 87: 553-63 (1996); Mango et al., Nature 384: 176-9 (1996); Stone et al., Nature 384:129-34 (1996)). Upon binding of Hh to Ptch, the normal inhibitory effect of Ptch on Smo is relieved, allowing Smo to transduce the Hh signal across the plasma membrane. However, the exact mechanism by which Ptch controls Smo activity still has yet to be clarified.
The signaling cascade initiated by Smo results in activation of Gli transcription factors that translocate into the nucleus where they control transcription of target genes. Gli has been shown to influence transcription of Hh pathway inhibitors such as Ptc and Hip I in a negative feedback loop indicating that tight control of the Hh pathway activity is required for proper cellular differentiation and organ formation. Uncontrolled activation of Hh signaling pathway is associated with malignancies in particular those of the brain, skin and muscle as well as angiogenesis. An explanation for this is that the Hh pathway has been shown to regulate cell proliferation in adults by activation of genes involved in cell cycle progression such as cyclin D which is involved in G1-S transition. Also, Sonic Hedgehog (SHh), an ortholog of Hh, blocks cell-cycle arrest mediated by p21, an inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinases. Hh signaling is further implicated in cancer by inducing components in the EGFR pathway (EGF, Her2) involved in proliferation as well as components in the PDGF (PDGFa) and VEGF pathways involved in angiogenesis. Loss of function mutations in the Ptch gene have been identified in patients with the basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS), a hereditary disease characterized by multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). Dysfunctional Ptch gene mutations have also been associated with a large percentage of sporadic basal cell carcinoma tumors (Chidambaram et al., Cancer Research 56: 4599-601 (1996); Gailani et al., Nature Genet. 14: 78-81 (1996); Hahn et al., Cell 85: 841-51 (1996); Johnson et al., Science 272: 1668-71 (1996); Unden et al., Cancer Res. 56: 4562-5; Wicking et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 60: 21-6 (1997)). Loss of Ptch function is thought to cause an uncontrolled Smo signaling in basal cell carcinoma. Similarly, activating Smo mutations have been identified in sporadic BCC tumors (Xie et al., Nature 391: 90-2 (1998)), emphasizing the role of Smo as the signaling subunit in the receptor complex for SHh. Various inhibitors of hedgehog signaling have been investigated such as Cyclopamine, a natural alkaloid that has been shown to arrest cell cycle at G0-GI and to induce apoptosis in SCLC. Cyclopamine is believed to inhibit Smo by binding to its heptahelical bundle. Forskolin has been shown to inhibit the Hh pathway downstream from Smo by activating protein kinase A (PKA) which maintains Gli transcription factors inactive. Despite advances with these and other compounds, there remains a need for potent inhibitors of the hedgehog signaling pathway.